DUBAI . September 3,2022: Sri Lanka remained victorious in a crucial match of Asia T20 Cup against Afghanistan here on Saturday.
Afghanistan had made a defendable total of 175 runs for Sri Lanka by playing 20 overs .
Rehamanullah Gurbaz’s 84 runs of 45 balls could not translate to bag win for his country against Sri Lanka.
A chase of 175 runs is not an easy job provided the team in the field does not lose confidence to the batting side .
Afghanistan team is a good team and it fights with great courage in big matches , but it seemed bit different against Sri Lanka here on Saturday. Its ballers did ordinary job with the ball and so was its fielding , which cost it crucial match in Asia T20 Cup 2022 against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka team changed its posture after winning a match against Bangladesh . Its
Rajapaksa turned into a whirlwind as a bat here against Afghanistan. He hit two back -to -back boundaries and a six to close the gap in balls and runs required. At end of
16 over ,
Sri Lanka was in total control of match. In the same pressure, Afghanistan’s player dropped a catch in 16th over . It proved huge loss for Afghanistan team.
In that huge pressure, Rasheed Khan, struck with a fine delivery to clean balled Sri Lanka player . But on next ball he was punished by the batsman by hitting a boundary.
In 17th over, Sri Lanka further consolidated its grip on the match by pulling the required run below 6 runs per over.
In the second last over , Sri Lanka needed only 8 runs of 12 balls .
Despite a wicket loss in the second last over, Sri Lanka won the match by 4 wickets with 5 balls remaining.